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Bill Bourne… Madagascar Slim… on their way to Red Deer for September 27th performance

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Tri-Continental, Madagascar Slim, Bill Bourne

Madagascar Slim reflects on the joys of belonging to Tri-Continental

By Mark Weber

Anyone who has ever taken in the sonic magic of Tri-Continental can’t help but notice the rare and accomplished musicians that make up this Internationally acclaimed group.

Known the world over for their compelling, intricately crafted tunes, Tri- Continental will be performing in Red Deer Sept. 27th in a concert presented by the Central Music Festival Society.

Local fans can check out what Madagascar Slim, Bill Bourne, Lester Quitzau and Michael Treadway have been up to of late as they feature tunes from last y ear’s disc Dust Dance plus cuts from their extensive repertoire, said Slim, a folk and blues guitarist who hails from Madagascar but settled in Ontario back in 1979.

Madagascar Slim leads Tri-Contenental (Bill Bourne, Drummer Michael Treadway and Lester Quitzau) through his song Boh at the Geomatic Attic in Lethbridge, March 4, 2018.  Posted to Youtube by LABEatartsmag

First, a quick look at their roots. Slim recalls first hearing Bourne at a Toronto club some 20 years ago and being struck by his talent.  “There was Bill in his top hat,” he recalled with a laugh. “I said, can I play this other guitar? He said, ‘Pick it up, man!’  “So I started playing with him, and he looked at me and said, ‘You want to come up with me onstage?’ Bourne later told him about Quitzau, and a new band was born. The possibilities from this collaboration would prove endless.

In the meantime, the gigs started coming fast and furious and it wasn’t long before they laid down tracks for their first disc. Typically, the men each bring their own works to the group and perform them as a singular creative force, continually finding fresh ways to interpret each other’s style. It’s always proven a hit with audiences and critics alike.  As Slim noted, when Tri-Continental plays his music, it sizzles with a completely different vibe then it may have in another setting with other players. And that goes for each of the guys, he explains. “We add our personalities to the mixes.” That said, they have worked on music together, too.  “We have embryos of ideas and we bounce them back and forth,” he notes.  But essentially, the raw creativity is just simply sparked by being together. And really, the guys never completely know, in a sense, where things will go as a show unfolds. “We come up with a lot of the ideas right when we are playing,” he explains. “That’s what makes the magic.” Indeed.

Besides being a member of Tri-Continental and the world music group African Guitar Summit, Slim has also worked as a solo artist and a regular collaborator with blues singer Ndidi Onukwulu. All the guys have, for the past few years, been following their own artistic paths. But then Slim recalled landing an email from Quitzau about reconnecting. And the time seemed right.

It’s also been an exciting new ‘chapter’ for Tri-Continental with the addition of drummer Michael Treadway as well. “Michael has added a new dimension to the whole thing,” observes Slim, pointing out that with much of hi s own music based so solidly on rhythmic foundations, adding such a strong percussive element is nothing short of exhilarating.

“As soon as Michael started playing I thought, oh my goodness. This is it! I really felt totally comfortable. And he just jumped into it and made it his home, too,” he added. “I’m really appreciative of the fact that he’s playing with us. He’s a joy to be on tour with – very bubbly, very enthusiastic.”

Slim moved to Canada in 1979 to study English and accounting at Seneca College, pursuing music with the folk group La Ridaine while studying. As time passed, his ‘calling’ to music became more obvious.  It’s been a memorable ride to be sure, with his talents seemingly boundless.  And to this day, he loves nothing better than hitting the stage with the men of Tri- Continental. They don’t live near each other, but that’s also what also makes those reunions that much sweeter. One can sense the sheer joy in Slim’s voice when he chats about not only the creative experiences the members are sure to share in the months ahead, but also the re-connecting with fans old and new.  “When you don’t see each other for awhile, it seems like it brings us closer,” he says with gratitude. “I’m really happy when I see those guys!”

For more information or to purchase tickets, check out www.centralmusicfest.com.

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Donald Trump appoints Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone as special ambassadors to Hollywood

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From LifeSiteNews

In a surprise post on Truth Social, Trump announced, ‘It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California.’

In an unexpected move, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has selected Mel Gibson, along with Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight, to be “special ambassadors” to Hollywood in his next administration.

“It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California,” Trump announced on his social media platform Truth Social on Thursday.

Elaborating on his decision, Trump continued:

They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!

These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!

All three of the Hollywood stars are baptized Catholics and have, to varying degrees, professed and defended their beliefs both in God and in conservative principles more generally.

The appointments come just days after Gibson, who is well-known as an outspoken Catholic actor and director, appeared on the popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast, making headlines for defending the resurrection of Christtalking about the post-Vatican II crisis in the Catholic Church, and speaking candidly about the important role his faith has played in his life. Gibson’s house was also one of many to have burned down in the fires ravaging Los Angeles, describing it as a form of “purification.”

Similarly, Stallone, who talked about his return to Christianity in the early 2000s after drifting away in his younger years, was also in the news recently for saying for the first time publicly that he is the survivor of abortion.

As for Voight, he was raised Catholic and attended the Catholic University of America, and is well-known for holding conservative views and talking openly about his belief in God. He is also the father of famous actress Angelina Jolie.

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Censorship Industrial Complex

UNESCO’s New Mission: Train Influencers About Combatting Online “Misinformation”

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The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is now incorporating teaching influencers how to “fact check” into its activities.
UNESCO claims that influencers have become “primary sources of news and cultural information” around the world – which prompted it to carry out a survey into how these online personalities verify the “news” they present.

Related: World Leaders Sign New Censorship Declaration at UN Event While Secretary-General António Guterres Pushed for Increased Online Censorship

Citizens in UN member-countries may or may not be happy that this is how their taxpayer money funding the world organization is being spent these days. But UNESCO is not only conducting surveys; it is also developing a training course for said influencers (which are also interchangeably referred to as content creators in press releases).

It’s meant to teach them not only to “report misinformation, disinformation and hate speech” but also to collaborate with legacy media and these outlets’ journalists, in order to “amplify fact-based information.”

The survey, “Behind the screens,” was done together with researchers from the US Bowling Green State University. 500 influencers from 45 countries took part, and the key findings, UNESCO said, are that 63 percent of them “lack rigorous and systematic fact-checking protocols” – but also, that 73% said they “want to be trained.”

This UN agency also frames the results as showing that respondents are “struggling” with disinformation and hate speech and are “calling for more training.”

UNESCO is justifying its effort to teach influencers to “rigorously” check facts by referring to its media and information literacy mandate. The report laments that mainstream media has become “only the third most common source (36.9%) for content creators, after their own experience and their own research and interviews.”

It would seem content creators/influencers are driven by common sense, but UNESCO wants them to forge closer ties with journalists (specifically those from legacy, i.e., traditional media – UNESCO appears very eager to stress that multiple times.)

Related: United Nations Development Program Urges Governments to Push Digital ID

Under the guise of concern, the agency also essentially warns creators/influencers that they should be better aware of regulations and “international standards” that pertain to digital media – in order to avoid “legal uncertainty” that exposes them to “prosecution and conviction in some countries.”

And now, UNESCO and US-based Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas have launched a one-month course which is currently involving 9,000 people from 160 countries. The goal is to train them to “address disinformation and hate speech and provide them with a solid grounding in global human rights standards.”

The initiative looks like an attempt to get “traditional” journalists to influence the influencers, and try to prop up their outlets, that are experiencing an erosion in trust among their audiences.

If you’re tired of censorship and surveillance, subscribe to Reclaim The Net.

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